Gov. Howard Dean (an M.D., remember), has declared he’s hitting the road to campaign for a health care plan that will give people the right to choose a Medicare-type option.

In his announcement, he said:

During the election, President Obama proposed a health care plan that would give every American the freedom to choose between keeping their private insurance—if they have any—and choosing a universally available public health insurance option like Medicare.

But for-profit insurance companies and HMOs are already working hard to strip this public health insurance option from any upcoming health care bill. They don’t want us to have a choice, and they’ll stop at nothing to kill real reform. Trouble is, some in Congress are siding with the insurance companies—and against what’s best for the rest of us.

Today, we draw a line in the sand. A public health insurance option is the only way to guarantee health care for all Americans. And to show that we mean business, we all need to tell Congress we won’t settle for less.

We need a single-payer system for the most efficient, humane system overall, but at the minimum, people should be able to choose a medicare-for-all type option. Gov. Dean’s rhetoric suggests Obama would sign such a health care bill, which surprised me, as I thought he was not open to that when he said single-payer was off the table.

I believe providing this sort of choice is the way to real, needed change in the way we provide health care coverage in this country. I think it will end up proving that most people already want single-payer, and many more will figure out it’s the best way to go when they see the choice.

Please go here to sign Dean’s petition, and please agitate as strongly as you can for a public health insurance option!

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